How To Zero-Fill A Hard Drive
via the Windows Command Prompt

Click the “Start” button
Input “cmd” in the “Search” box, and then right-click the Command Prompt icon and select “Run as administrator”.
At the prompt window, you are going to use the following command to format each partition on the hard drive.
The command is (without quotes):
“format DRIVE: /fs:NTFS /p:1”
However where it says "DRIVE:" you will need to provide the drive letter of the hard drive you wish to format/zero fill.
Once you know the drive letter of the hard drive that is going to be erased, enter it in the command as follows: "format E: /fs:NTFS /p:1"

!WARNING BEFORE PROCEEDING!
You cannot undo a format! So ensure that you choose the right hard drive and back up any required files! If you format the primary drive by mistake, the operating system will be deleted and your computer will not work again until you reinstall it.

If you are 100% positive the drive letter is correct for the hard drive you would like to erase, with the command properly typed out in the Windows Command Prompt, you can now hit “Enter” to format the selected drive with the NTFS file system.
Type “y” and press “Enter” to confirm erase data.

Wait for the process to be completed.
After erasure/zero fill is completed, you'll be prompted to enter a Volume label.
Type a name for the drive if necessary, or just press "Enter" to skip.
Wait while “Creating file system structures” appears on the screen.
Then repeat the above steps to format every partition on the hard disk; if/as needed.
After writing zeros to each partition, you can type “exit” and press “Enter” to close the Command Prompt.

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